but I shall presently; do not go away."----"I will be at your
orders."

This conversation was too low for Helene to hear; besides, she had
stepped back, and continued watching the doors, in the hope of seeing
Gaston return.

It was a consolation to Dubois to know she would be disappointed.

When Dubois was gone, they breathed more freely.

"Seat yourself, mademoiselle," said the duke; "I have much to tell you."

"Monsieur, one thing before all. Is the Chevalier Gaston de Chanlay in
any danger?"

"We will speak of him directly, but first of yourself; he brought you to
me as a protector. Now, tell me against whom I am to protect you?"

"All that has happened to me for some days is so strange, that I do not
know whom to fear or whom to trust. If Gaston were there--"

"Yes, I understand; if he authorized you to tell me, you would keep
nothing back. But if I can prove to you that I know nearly all
concerning you?"

"You, monsieur!"

"Yes, I; are you not called Helene de Chaverny? Were you not brought up
in the Augustine convent between Nantes and Clisson? Did you not one day
receive an order to leave the convent from a mysterious protector who
watches over you? Did you not travel with one of the sisters, to whom
you gave a hundred louis for her trouble? At Rambouillet, did not a
person called Madame Desroches await you? Did she not announce to you a
visit from your father? The same evening, did not some one arrive who
loved you, and who thought you loved him?"

"Yes, yes, monsieur, it is all true," said Helene, astonished that a
stranger should thus know the details of her history.

"Then the next day," continued the regent, "did not Monsieur de Chanlay,
who followed you under the name of De Livry, pay you a visit, which was
vainly opposed by Madame Desroches?"

"You are right, monsieur, and I see that Gaston has told you all."

"Then came the order to leave for Paris. You would have opposed it, but
were forced to obey. You were taken to a house in the Faubourg St.
Antoine; but there your captivity became insupportable."

"You are mistaken, monsieur; it was not the captivity, but the prison."

"I do not understand you."

"Did not Gaston tell you of his fears, which I laughed at at first, but
shared afterward?"

"No, tell me what did you fear?"

"But if _he_ did not tell you, how shall _I_?"

"Is there anything one cannot tell to a friend?"

"Did he not tell you that this man whom I at first believed